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Reading Comprehension · Meaning in Context

PrepTest 156 · Section 3 · Question 2

Phase 1 (your first ~400 questions): read the guidance, then answer. No clock.

Step 1 · Pre-Question Guidance · read this first

Question type
Meaning in Context
The one idea it tests
A phrase means what the author's reasoning just led up to, not its dictionary meaning.
The basic logic
Read the sentences right before the phrase. The phrase usually sums up the paragraph's point. Match your answer to that point, including any limit the author put on it, such as under present conditions.
Tiny words that decide it
  • “given”
  • “in context”
  • “cannot”

Playground logic

When the kid passage calls keeping both wishes a lost cause, it means that in this house, with kids this different, the plan just cannot work.

Step 2 · The kid passage

This question belongs to Passage 1 (Questions 1–5). Read its kid passage and structure guide first: The Chore Chart Problem →

Step 3 · Try the model question

In the closing line, the phrase "lost cause" most nearly means that

Choices

Step 5 · Work the real question

Open PrepTest 156, Section 3, Question 2 in your official copy from LSAC (for example in LawHub) and read it there.

Your answer

How to apply it

Open Question 2 in your official copy and answer it first.

Find the phrase and reread the two or three sentences before it. Say in your own words what the author has just argued, including any condition attached. Then pick the choice that matches that point. Be wary of choices that add a reason the author never gave, like cost or a missing helper. The answer should fit the paragraph's logic.